Attributes of Revival – The Struggle

When you are doing a work for God, one thing is certain. The enemy is not happy. He will not stand by and allow God and his work to prosper. He will do everything that he can do to try to stop that work and thus stop you from moving forward … and oh by the way, he hates the very thought of revival because he knows … he loses!

Lions roar for various reasons. They roar to communicate with other lions. They roar to show how big they are. They roar, also, as a means to mark their territory. When hungry, a male lion will roar to scare its prey while the younger lions and lioness’ often are the ones to attack. The devil roars for these same reasons. Ultimately, if he can put us into paralyzing fear then any little thing can knock us off course and work towards our demise.

In the account of Nehemiah, he first experienced his own struggle when the king questioned him about his countenance being sad and even asked if he were sick (Nehemiah 2:2). This was not a good condition for the king’s cupbearer to be in. The ramification of being sick or the king questioning even Nehemiah not being himself could have been tragic. The position of the cupbearer had to be one of complete trust. If the King sensed anything out of the ordinary, his own fear of mistrust could have lead to Nehemiah’s demise. Nehemiah was “very sore afraid.” However, instead of succumbing to his fear, he did the unthinkable. He unburdened his heart to the king. That could have also resulted in dire consequences. Telling the king that he wanted to re-establish the Jewish kingdom. Real fear!

However, Nehemiah unburdened his heart to the right person. The king had great respect for the man that stood between him and death. It also didn’t hurt that King Artaxerxes was Queen Esther’s stepson. The king was probably understanding since his father was married to a Hebrew woman. Once again, God ordained the right person for the right time to assist his people. I mean, if He could use a donkey to speak, this king could also be used to forward God’s plan.

As Nehemiah went to Jerusalem, expressed his burden and proceeded in the work to re-establish the kingdom, he was faced with a new struggle through local adversaries; namely Sanballat the Hornite, Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arabian (Nehemiah 2:19). These were roaring lions who continued to roar during the entire rebuilding of the wall. They tried various ways to defeat the work of God. This was their territory and they were not about to give it up very easily. They tried taunting (Nehemiah 4: 2-3); They tried to make war (Nehemiah 4: 7-8); They tried to spread false rumors (Nehemiah 6: 1-9); They tried to deceive (Nehemiah 6: 10-14); They even tried just plain fear (Nehemiah 6: 17-18). Each time instead of allowing the roaring to get to them, the workers for God resisted “steadfast in the faith.” Nehemiah and the people of God actually allowed the “roaring” to drive them to their knees and to pray to the only One who could help and protect them.

There were other struggles that Nehemiah and the people of God faced during this time of work. The “nobles” refused to work (Nehemiah 3: 5); The local Jews put their own brethren in bondage (Nehemiah 5: 1-13); and even dealing with the treachery of Eliashib the high priest who at first helped to build the wall. However, in the end, he was found out to be in league with Tobiah and allowed his son to marry Sanballat’s daughter (Nehemiah 13: 4-28). The very man that Nehemiah should have been able to trust was himself a friend of lions.

However, through all of the struggles and adversities, Nehemiah never lost his burden and he never lost his vision for God’s kingdom. He did not allow the “roars” to be a distraction. In fact, after the wall was built, Nehemiah’s work became greater. The children of God began to seek God once more and turn from their evil ways. Nehemiah was diligent in ensuring that the reformation these people were experiencing would not die out.

We have not experienced revival such as was in Nehemiah’s day, on a whole-scale basis. We have read about great revivals during the times of men like Charles Finney, D.L. Moody and D.S.Warner. Those revivals did not come about without struggle. However, we do know what it is like to struggle in the midst of doing God’s will. Suffering is as natural a part of the Christian experience. Jesus said it best:

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

John 16: 33

That world may await us with personal struggles. Personal battles that only God knows about and only God can help us with. We may experience battles from ones that don’t want us “in their territory.” Not everyone wants to see the kingdom of God prosper and Jesus Christ being lifted up within the midst. We may even face persecution from those, like Eliashib, who at one time put their hand to the plow along with us to cultivate the work of God. They oppose the work that God wants to do within us. Jesus’ own words are, “be of good cheer.” If we are ever to experience true revival, we will have to learn what to do when adversity comes or when the devil roars.

The slothful man saith, there is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.

Proverbs 22:13

What is implied here is that because of this man’s laziness, he would not go out and take care of business because of a lion in the streets. Whether the lion was real or not, it was really his lack of sobriety and vigilance that kept him from “going out into the streets.” His laziness became his excuse. If there was a lion in the street shouldn’t this man have sounded the alarm and gotten help to get the lion out of the streets? The lion in the street was just a distraction from his true condition. Those that were building the wall were facing real lions. Not the four-legged kind. But the “lion” spirits that were seeking their destruction. They could have been lazy, not taken-up the work and allowed the “persecuting lions” to be their cover for what could have really been in their hearts. Instead, they had a mind to work. They were sober and vigilant. They did not allow the roars to draw them back into fear and laziness. They, in turn, allowed those roars to drive them to their God for help and deliverance. The same is true for us today. Oftentimes, the real enemy that we deal with is not the roaring lions but the slothful self. We may use the excuse that there are “lions in the street” However, the real issue is that we are not sober and we are not diligent. We want to do what we want to do … and therein lies the true struggle. True revival will come when we recognize our true position before God … without excuses! It may come individually with the hope that the “Nehemiah’s” out there will begin to carry the burden for possibly a whole “nation.” And when the lions come, and they will, it is at those times that we need to run to the one who shut the mouths of the lions … or better yet to The Lion of the tribe of Judah!